1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to management of mobile telecommunications traffic. In particular, the invention relates to methods, computer programs and apparatuses for managing mobile telecommunications packet data service traffic.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, various kinds of traffic measurements are routinely performed on packet switched telecommunication networks as well as on circuit switched telecommunication networks. In the case of packet switched networks, these traffic measurements may contain e.g. packet headers, signaling messages, and authorization log-files. These traffic measurements may be utilized in examining the status and performance of a network, and in order to ensure the correct operation of the network. In addition, traffic analysis based on these measurements provides valuable data about user behavior and trends in application and network usage.
A prior art network management system typically comprises fault management and performance management. Fault management refers to monitoring notifications and alarms indicating status changes and detected faults, as well as evaluating their importance and effects, and initiating actions such as repairs. These notifications and alarms are generated by various network elements, operation and maintenance units, and the network management system itself. Performance management refers to collecting performance measurements from various network elements, operation and maintenance units, etc. to the network management system, and subsequently analyzing the collected data. Thus, e.g. trends and problems in the network can be detected.
The collected performance measurements typically relate to parameters which can be used to indicate the performance of the network or a network element, or a service provided by the network. The performance measurements are typically transmitted to the network management system sequentially, e.g. every 15, 30 or 60 minutes or every 12 or 24 hours, depending on the network, e.g. the network size, the amount of different kind of measurements to be collected, and the capacity of the network management system. Having received the collected performance measurements, the network management system analyzes them. Typically the analysis is performed by batch processing in which the received data is analyzed e.g. once every 24 hours.
As current networks continue to grow, faster network management including monitoring of network resources, network services and services provided over the network is needed. In particular, analysis of the collected performance measurements has proven problematic. Firstly, the current implementations typically perform the analysis as an off-line procedure, for example once every 24 hours. In other words, the analysis is not performed in real-time which may seriously degrade the performance of the network or the quality of service since performance problems may remain unattended to until the next batch processing of collected performance measurements. Furthermore, the present algorithm based analysis methods do not allow real-time decision making and monitoring either.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to alleviate the problems described above and to introduce a solution that allows analysis and monitoring for a communications network, network resources, network services and services provided over the network in real-time.